7Bilgeler Vindemia Rüzgar Karasakız Rosé
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A couple weeks ago, I flew to Izmir to give a wine tasting for a group from Roots Adventure Travel. It’s been years since I last visited the 7Bilgeler winery, so I felt pretty psyched about going for the tasting. Over the years, 7Bilgeler has slowly added native grape wines to its portfolio, which reminded me that I’d recently opened a bottle of one of its newer wines: the 7Bilgeler Vindemia Rüzgar Karasakız Rosé.
Karasakız
While there are many grapes in Turkey I like, some of which I like quite a lot, my favorite Turkish black grape is undoubtedly Karasakız.
More well-known as Karasakız (“black gum”), the grape likely had a home on the island Bozcaada, where it’s known as Kuntra, long before it moved to the Turkish mainland. On Bozcaada, formerly Tenedos, people have been cultivating Kuntra for at least 500 years. Over on the mainland, Karasakız grows mostly on the Anatolian side of the Aegean growing region in the hills and mountains of Bayramiç.
Maybe plantings here don’t have 500 years of history behind them, but these hardy bush vines do fall in the officially “old vines” category at minimum ages of 35-years-old. Grown at 500 meters above sea level (or higher), these thin-skinned grape have lower levels of anthocyanins leading to very pale ruby-colored red wines. In 2009, pioneering winery Paşaeli became the first to bottle single varietal Karasakız (under that name).
While it had a slow start, with really just Suvla following in Paşaeli’s footsteps, the grape has enjoyed an explosion of popularity over the last few years. More and more producers from around the Aegean are now working with Karasakız, and new wineries, like Canavar, have sprung up precisely because of this grape. In addition to more wineries making wine, we’re also seeing more styles of wine including varietal reds, red blends, rosé, traditional method blanc de noir sparkling wine, passito-style sweet wine, and even a red pét-nat. This versatility is also reflected in the range of foods with which it can pair.
7Bilgeler
Established in 2010 by Bilge and Gülgün Yamen, 7Bilgeler Vineyards (or Yedi Bilgeler) pays homage in its name to the area’s history. Named 7 Sages, the winery sits not far from the famed ruins of Greco-Roman city Ephesus. An area believed to have been a significant location for a group of men known as the Seven Sages. True or not, it was one of the reasons behind the Yamen’s decision to locate their winery here.
Bilge became interested in wine while at university. He was fascinated with history and philosophy and how wine played such a huge role in both. Originally from Kars (in the extreme northeast of Turkey) with roots hailing from Georgia, Yamen fell for the Aegean coast during the course of his search for a winery site. He felt its trifecta of beauty, history, and philosophy made it the perfect place.
Of course, having lush land ripe for agricultural development didn’t hurt either! This area of the Aegean has thick, fertile top soils. Selçuk boasts a variety of crops aside from grapes, including figs and stone fruit, helped along by hot, dry summers and cool, wet winters.
For quite a few years after 7Bilgeler opened, Bilge focused entirely on producing foreign grape wines, especially from Cabernets Franc and Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Malbec, Syrah, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc. These last few years have seen a slow shift to working with native grapes like Emir, Bornova Misketi, Gök, Kalecik Karası, Öküzgözü, and Karasakız.
7Bilgeler Vindemia Rüzgar Karasakız Rosé, 2023
While 7Bilgeler’s winery and Karasakız both hail from the Aegean, they come from very different parts of the Aegean. The winery lies, give or take, 400 kilometers south of the Karasakız vineyards from which it buys its grapes. These vines, located in the Çavuşlu Köyü of Bayramiç, sit at 550 meters above sea level alluvial-clay-limestone-sandy mix top soils over clay-limestone bedrock. At 45-year-old, these bush vines are officially “old”.
A crisp, dry wine showing a savory character, with briny, pink grapefruit, and olive notes framing a core of red fruit flavors like cornelian cherry, rhubarb, and cranberry. Firm acidity and a textured palate, along with its 13.5% ABV contributed to a medium body.
Being as it’s my favorite grape, it’s little surprise that I generally even really enjoy Karasakız rosés (few though they are). While I didn’t love the 7Bilgeler Vindemia Rüzgar Karasakız red wine, I did rather enjoy this.
Visiting 7Bilgeler
The 7Bilgeler Vineyards is located just a few kilometers outside Selçuk. It has capitalized on its proximity to both the city Izmir and the popular tourist destinations around Selçuk, meaning reservations, especially at the restaurant, are usually recommended.
Getting There
First and foremost, be safe when traveling! Happily, Turkey is a pretty safe country. But you never know when you’re going to trip over a paving stone (been there done that), slip on a wet sidewalk (done that too), or have a taxi drive over your sandal-shod foot (also happened to me). Make sure you’re traveling safely with something like SafetyWing travel insurance!
Reaching the winery is pretty simple and there are a number of ways to get there from Izmir. If you have a car (or rent one) it’s a relatively easy drive along well-maintained highways. However, if you prefer public transportation, there are several options. Including directly from the airport.
The Havas bus from the airport (the Aydın – Kuşadası route) runs multiple times a day. You can find the bus right outside the arrivals area of the Adnan Menderes Izmir Airport arrivals. The bus drops you in central Selçuk. From here you can cross the street to the bus station and get one of the cabs to take you to the winery. Be warned, cabs in Selçuk are madly expensive.
TCDD runs trains from several points in and around Izmir (including at the airport) both to Selçuk but also (limitedly) to the tiny Çamlık station, a mere eight minute walk away from the winery.
You can of course also book a shuttle from the airport.
Accommodation
Popular as Selçuk is as a tourist destination, you have every type of hotel option open to you if you decide you want to spend a night or two there. However, especially if you plan to drive yourself (as it’s more convenient to then tourist), why not book in at the winery’s hotel?
Things to Do
Since you’ve traveled all the way, you must of course take advantage of the amazing sites located around Selçuk.
The “big one” naturally is the Greco-Roman ruins site of Ephesus. There are usually any number of kinds of tours you can get that include both Ephesus and the House of Mary, Ephesus and Şirince, Ephesus and other ancient sites, and so on.
You can also catch a dolmuş (shared taxi) from the Selçuk bus station to Kuşadası where you can enjoy the beaches, waterpark, or do a boat cruise!
Don’t forget to check out my other posts about 7Bilgeler and Karasakız reviews!
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